Selfie!

This week was pretty awesome! Not many crazy things happened, but it was definitely a good time. We have been doing a bit of service work on our house because our landlord is not a member and we're gaining some good relationships with him by helping him so much. I still know how to do dry-wall work for walls and such because of all the good stuff Westin Drown taught me. That's really coming in handy. Some bad news is that I lost my camera this week.... Seriously one of the saddest things that I have ever experienced. I searched all day and couldn't find it. I already let Dad know. Hopefully one day he'll be able to forgive me... That was an amazing gift. But I have prayed and fasted that it would turn up! So we'll see what the Lord has in store. 

Since there wasn't really anything incredibly notable this week, I'll fill you in on some of my ponderings. I've been thinking a lot lately about Self Mastery, and Optimism. Over the past 7 weeks, I have been making it a point to run in the morning. Almost every morning for seven weeks I have run 2 miles. It has been one of the hardest things I've ever done! Consistency is a hard principle to learn. It takes discipline. But I've for the most part been reaching my goal. It's been awesome to take that self mastery and apply the discipline I have gained to the other areas of my life. Not just physical fitness. There is more order and more stability in life when we do that.
The other thing was optimism. I talked with Mikaila a bit about this one, and touched on it a bit in my email with Dad. Optimism is a life saver. We were walking in the street the other day trying to see who would talk to us. As I walked, I was pondering this principle of choosing what things to think about. Mikaila, Cierra, and I have been taught this principle since we were really young. We've always been taught that to a large extent we get to choose the way we think and even to some degree how we feel. As I thought about this, I thought of some of the negative thoughts that I have from time to time, and I realized very vividly that I don't have to be subject to those things. Why? Because I have an entire host of good memories and happy thoughts to call in as reinforcements. From all the memories with my family and friends to all of the spiritual experiences that I have had with the Lord, these thoughts can come to my aid whenever I need them. But only if I choose it. It's been really empowering. I think I've always known those principles, but this time they were confirmed to me through the spirit, and now they're being strengthened by the power of the Lord. It's incredible to see.

Anyway, I know the Lord lives! The church is true, the book is blue, and Moroni is always on the ball!

Love you all!

-Elder Warenski